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The Bovidae are the biological family of cloven-hoofed, ruminant mammals that includes bison, African buffalo, water buffalo, antelopes, gazelles, sheep, goats, muskoxen, and domestic cattle. A member of this family is called a bovid. Consisting of 143 extant species and 300 known extinct species, the family Bovidae consists of eight major subfamilies apart from the disputed Peleinae and Pantholopinae. The family evolved 20 million years ago, in the early Miocene. The bovids show great variation in size and pelage colouration. Excepting some domesticated forms, all male bovids have horns, and in many species females possess horns, too. The size and shape of the horns vary greatly, but the basic structure is always one or more pairs of simple bony protrusions without branches, often having a spiral, twisted or fluted form, each covered in a permanent sheath of keratin. Most bovids bear 30 to 32 teeth. Most bovids are diurnal. Social activity and feeding usually peak during dawn and dusk. Bovids usually rest before dawn, during midday, and after dark. They have various methods of social organization and social behaviour, which are classified into solitary and gregarious behaviour. Bovids use different forms of vocal, olfactory, and tangible communication. Most species alternately feed and ruminate throughout the day. While small bovids forage in dense and closed habitat, larger species feed on high-fiber vegetation in open grasslands. Most bovids are polygynous. Depending on the species, bovids mate once or twice a year. In some species, neonate bovids remain hidden for a week to two months, regularly nursed by their mothers; in other species, neonates are followers, accompanying their dams, rather than tending to remain hidden. Most of the diverse bovid species occur in Africa. The maximum concentration is in the savannas of eastern Africa. A few bovid species also occur in Europe, Asia, and North America. The Bovidae include three of the five domesticated mammals whose use has spread outside their original ranges, namely cattle, sheep, and goats. Dairy products such as milk, butter, and cheese are manufactured largely from domestic cattle. Bovids also provide leather, meat, and wool. ==Etymology and taxonomy== }}}}}}}} The name "Bovidae" was given by the British zoologist John Edward Gray in 1821. The word "Bovidae" is the combination of the prefix ''bov-'' (originating from the New Latin word ''Bos'', ox) and the suffix ''-idae''.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bovidae )〕 The Bovidae mammal family is placed in the order Artiodactyla (which includes the even-toed ungulates). It includes 143 extant species, accounting for nearly 55% of the ungulates, and 300 extinct species. Molecular studies have supported monophyly in the family Bovidae (a monophyletic group of organisms comprises an ancestral species and their descendants). The number of subfamilies in the Bovidae is disputed, with suggestions of as many as ten and as few as two subfamilies. However, molecular, morphological and fossil evidence indicates the existence of eight distinct subfamilies : Aepycerotinae (consisting of just the impala), Alcelaphinae (bontebok, hartebeest, wildebeest and relatives), Antilopinae (several antelopes, gazelles, and relatives), Bovinae (cattle, buffaloes, bison and other antelopes), Caprinae (goats, sheep, ibex, serows and relatives), Cephalophinae (duikers), Hippotraginae (addax, oryx and relatives) and Reduncinae (reedbuck and kob antelopes). In addition, three extinct subfamilies are known: Hypsodontinae (mid-Miocene), Oiocerinae (Turolian) and the subfamily of ''Tethytragus'' (mid-Miocene). In 1992, Alan W. Gentry of the Natural History Museum, London divided the eight major subfamilies of Bovidae into two major clades on the basis of their evolutionary history: the Boodontia, which comprised only the Bovinae, and the Aegodontia, which consisted of the rest of the subfamilies. Boodonts have somewhat primitive teeth, resembling those of oxen, whereas aegodonts have more advanced teeth like those of goats. A controversy exists about the recognition of Peleinae and Patholopinae, comprising the genera ''Pelea'' and ''Pantholops'' respectively, as subfamilies. In 2000, American biologist George Schaller and palaeontologist Elisabeth Vrba suggested the inclusion of ''Pelea'' in the Reduncinae, though the grey rhebok, the sole species of ''Pelea'', is highly different from the kobs and the reduncines in morphology. ''Pantholops'', earlier classified in the Antilopinae, was later placed in its own subfamily, Pantholopinae. However, molecular and morphological analysis supports the inclusion of ''Pantholops'' in the Caprinae. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bovidae」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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